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EU Observer reports that Irish minister for justice Dermott Ahern has confirmed that Dublin is seeking to block a new European Commission initiative that would allow the free transfer of personal data on EU citizens to Israel.

Ireland is concerned the data could be misused after eight fake Irish passports were allegedly used by Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in the assassination of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh earlier this year. Also six fake British passport were used by the alleged hit team. As a result, Irish officials last week called for the scrapping of commission plans to declare Israeli data protection standards as being sufficient to allow the transfer of personal data.

The commission initiative to make the EU declaration on Israeli data protection standards would have gone ahead automatically if no member state had raised an objection by Tuesday’s deadline. But following the Irish objection, national officials will discuss the matter in a committee that deals with the protection of personal data.